espYoungLegends announce Cape Town songbird Lana Crowster to perform at CTIJF 2016

Cape Town, 11 February 2016 – In December 2015, espAfrika, organiser of the world-renowned Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF), launched a new initiative to discover up and coming jazz-inspired talent. espYoungLegends offered young unsigned musicians a chance to expose their talent to the espAfrika audience and a prize to perform at the prestigious CTIJF 2016 in front of thousands of festival-goers.

The competition attracted a significant number of high quality entries in its debut year. Narrowing these down to the Top 20 and then the finishing Top 5 has been a dual process supported by a panel of judges and the public who lent their votes to the band Technical Image, ensuring they had a place in the final consideration of the Top 5.

After much deliberation, the panel (which includes the espAfrika talent committee, musicians Camillo Lombard, Donveno Prins, DJ Eazy, and facilitator Bev Scott-Brown) selected Lana Crowster as the inaugural winner.

“We are delighted to be able to welcome Lana as a performer to the Cape Town International Jazz Festival. This multi-talented young woman was a clear winner. Her vocals effortlessly and artistically mesmerised us and will certainly do the same for the fans who watch her,” enthused Domingo.

Bev Scott-Brown, who facilitated the process also remarked on Lana’s winning attributes, saying: “She is clearly focused and dedicated to becoming an artist and this was apparent in all aspects of her application. She is an all-round artist whose material is consistent and clear in terms of her style, all the hallmarks of a future star and exactly what we were looking for in this year’s winner.”

On being informed that she would grace the stage at the CTIJF, Lana commented: “I am humbled and overwhelmed by this honour. To be able to perform at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival is a dream come true.”

Based on the success of this year’s event, espAfrika has also announced that the competition will run again. “The espYoungLegends is now a permanent fixture on the CTIJF calendar and I would like to thank each and every one of the artists and groups who entered this year, we wish you well with your careers and hope to hear more from you in the future” stated Domingo.

“In preparation for the next season, we would like to encourage would-be entrants to start practising now, and recording their entry videos. The bar has been set by the inaugural event, with a high standard and I for one, cannot wait to see what will come with the next intake,” concluded the CTIJF Festival Director.